India, April 14 -- Praful Hinge couldn't have asked for a better start to his IPL career. Trusted by Sunrisers Hyderabad to take the new ball against a Rajasthan Royals side that had been in good touch, the 24-year-old repaid that faith straightaway. His opening over turned the game on its head, as he picked up three wickets in no time, removing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Rajasthan never quite recovered from that early blow. Hinge stayed on target through his spell, kept things tight and ended with four wickets, capping off a memorable debut with the Player of the Match award.

The road to this moment, though, wasn't something he fully understood in the beginning. He started training seriously around the ag...